Lawrence residents on the horns of a dilemma

Joshua Rosenau / The Times of TrentonCarol Harle addresses Lawrence Township Council members Cathleen Lewis and Jim Kownacki on Tuesday. 3/20/2012.

LAWRENCE — Distressed residents faced with two undesirable options for covering a $2.3 million budget shortfall voiced their concerns Tuesday night over the township council’s plans. Council would either raise the municipal tax rate or begin charging for trash removal.

“We cannot give you what you want, because we do not have it. We cannot afford the horrendous and unreasonable 17 percent tax hike you want us to endure,“said Review Avenue resident Carol Harle.

“The solution to the problem is not humongous tax hikes or taking away our garbage, Harle said. “The solution is new revenues and deeper appropriation cuts.”

The council’s proposal to increase the tax rate from 84 cents to 98 cents per $100 of assessed value will increase taxes over the 2 percent cap imposed by the state, requiring voter approval.

Should a majority of residents vote down the tax increase in a referendum on the April 17 school election ballot, the council is expected to make up the difference by instituting a user fee for trash removal services currently funded through taxes, township manager Richard Krawczun said.

Trash collection, normally paid for by the entire pool of taxpayers including local businesses, would be paid for solely by residents and homeowners who use the service, should the tax hike fail, he said.

“The referendum as it is written says nothing about a user fee. It basically says, ‘Are we raising taxes or are we not?’ and I just wanted to make sure I understand that,” said Max Ramos of Woodlane Road.

Township officials said they wanted to change the language so that voters were aware that refusing the tax increase would result in the establishment of a separate fee for trash, but the state agency that approves the language on the ballot question refused to change the wording, Councilman Greg Puliti said.

“We wanted to let people know what they were really voting for, and the Division of Local Government Services said, ‘No. You’re going to put it our way, and that’s the only way,’” Puliti said. “I believe in the transparency of government, and our government wouldn’t let us do it.”

There is no mention of the added fee for trash pick-up in the language of the current ballot question, Krawczun said.

In defense of the council’s plan, Puliti touted the council’s record of restrained spending.

“We are a fiscally responsible town. We have over 30 shared services agreements. We were doing that before it was fashionable. We had caps on sick pay before it was fashionable. We had wage freezes,” Puliti said.

Both Puliti and Krawczun faulted state policies for limiting the township’s ability to manage its finances and responsibly serve its residents.

“We are almost built out,” said Krawczun, “Twenty-six percent of our community is preserved open space. So, you’re constraining the way that you can generate revenue from real estate taxes, because it’s the growth in the community that absorbs the incremental growth on the appropriations’ side of the budget. So as new property comes online, it generates more tax dollars. It absorbs the cost of doing business, and then you don’t have a dramatic impact in the (tax) rate to the township."

As properties and residents in Lawrence age, and ratables decline, the township is increasingly forced to collect taxes from entities that are no longer productive, he said.

Nonprofit organizations, and other tax-exempt organizations that maintain a large footprint in the town also put a drain on municipal services, Krawczun said.

“Look at the urban areas that are totally built out. Ask them about the restricted revenues from real estate. Ask all of these municipalities who are being burdened by nonprofit organizations that drive our roads. They receive police protection. They receive fire protection. In certain cases they may have housing here, or they’re using recreation facilities. They’re receiving services like everybody else.”